Lance Armstrong Doping

Lance Armstrong Doping, On Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a long segment of the ongoing investigation as to whether Lance Armstrong, seven times winner of the Tour de France, used performance-enhancing drugs.

Hero Armstrong, a cancer survivor, philanthropist, and American, has always denied using drugs and cycling has been revealed to be riddled with blood doping and Armstrong teammates have been presented and said he did. The story of 60 minutes revealed that two of the closest teammates Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie, have testified before a grand jury that he saw Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.

Hamilton also said that contrary to the assertion that Armstrong has never failed a drug test, Armstrong made a reality in 2001 – in a Swiss race before the Tour de France that year. Hamilton believes that the International Cycling Union convinced the testing organization to ignore the test.

Hamilton and Hincapie’s testimony is the strongest evidence yet that Armstrong violated the rules, and 60 minutes Hamilton was looking more credible by repeatedly pointing a finger at the sport of cycling and himself, as well as Armstrong. Hamilton described a sport that had been impossible to win without doping because everyone doping. He also made clear how many jobs and careers depended on Armstrong is “clean.” If the Swiss test was not missing, said Hamilton, U.S. Postal service equipment had been completed, and work and other studies 50-60 that have been lost.

The government seems to be building a case that Lance Armstrong and other team members, defrauded the U.S. government saying it clean when not to get sponsorship money from the U.S. Postal Service. It is unclear what the ultimate goals of government are, but seem to include the cleaning of the sport of cycling, showing that Lance Armstrong has lied, and crack down harder on the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Armstrong’s research is not very popular: The country faces much bigger problems that the government seems unwilling to do anything about it, and few people want to see a fallen hero (or admit that you desire). But researchers seem deeply committed to seeing through this research.

After 60 floors of the Act last night, even those who want to believe Lance Armstrong will struggle to continue doing so. So it is likely that, regardless of what happens with the investigation and prosecution, achievements and legacy of Armstrong will be permanently stained.

As for the investigation, the testimony of Hamilton, Hincapie, and other teammates of Armstrong, the government probably has enough evidence to accuse Armstrong of something (possibly, fraud against the government by claiming to be clean, but this depend on the wording of exactly what he said).

If the government has enough to convict him, however, is an open question. Given that Hamilton, Floyd Landis, and other former teammates apparently lied under oath in testimony before (can not deny that he had doped), should be relatively easy witness impeachment.

Given the position of Armstrong to date, it seems likely that he will fight the charges that the government does less than he thinks he has no chance whatsoever of winning.

If you fight, and if former colleagues now are telling the truth about him, Lance Armstrong may miss the opportunity to, once again, do something extremely difficult and admirable: Come clean and accept the consequences. And after using his prodigious fame, charm, tenacity and ability to help their sport an end the era of doping behind him